The Qatari envoy for the Gaza Strip entered the Palestinian enclave late Tuesday evening with financial aid and proposals to try to calm the game between the Islamist movement Hamas and Israel, people familiar with the matter told AFP . According to sources close to Mohammed el-Emadi, Qatari envoy for Gaza, the latter arrived with $ 30 million in aid for the Palestinian territory of two million inhabitants, half of whom live below the poverty line. And he was to meet overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday with the local Hamas leadership.
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Mohammed el-Emadi's arrival comes as Hamas has stepped up its launching of incendiary balloons and rocket fire at Israel since August 6, while the Israeli army has carried out retaliatory airstrikes in the Gaza Strip almost every night . In response to the launching of incendiary balloons, which have caused more than 400 fires in Israel according to a compilation of the records of the fire service, the Jewish state also tightened its blockade on Gaza by closing the Kerem Shalom goods crossing point and by stopping fuel deliveries to this Palestinian territory.
As a result, the only power plant in the Gaza Strip closed last week and the enclave receives less than four hours of electricity per day, via Israel, which could have "devastating effects " the UN warned on Tuesday. especially as local authorities fear a sudden increase in Covid-19 cases after the discovery on Monday of contamination in a local refugee camp. According to sources close to the Qatari delegation, the Israelis told envoy El-Emadi that they were prepared to resume deliveries of fuel to power the Gaza power plant and ease the blockade in exchange for a return to the calm and the end of the throwing of incendiary balloons.
Hamas and Israel, which fought three wars (2008, 2012, 2014), reached a truce agreement last year, reached through the UN, Egypt and Qatar. The agreement provides for the granting of financial aid of 30 million dollars per month by Qatar, but also a series of economic measures - such as the extension of an industrial zone in Gaza and the granting of permits Israeli work for Gazans - to reduce poverty and stabilize this territory. However, according to corroborating sources, disputes over the implementation of these economic measures are at the heart of recent tensions between Israel and Hamas.